“Urban isolate U9” it’s a neighborhood undergoing urban transformation located in Abano Terme city, in Veneto Region (IT). The covered area is about 2,6 km2, with a mixed-use ensured by buildings having different functions, as for example, residential, educational, commercial, institutional, hotel with spa and, in addition, there are also a large central parking lot, an extensive green space and a historic villa. Based on this heterogeneity of functions, the characteristics of the inhabitants and frequenters of the area varied: in the area dedicated to the weekly market there is a prevalence of elderly people, while during most of the year the area is also frequented by groups of young primary school students. The presence of some of the main services for citizenship, such as the town hall and the supermarket, makes the area a transit point for almost the entire population. The area is served by daily and effective public transport service, a key point for a municipality with a continuous influx of tourists throughout the year and a growing population.
The Municipality of Abano Terme, based on what stated on its Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP), which has been drawn up with great ambitions in terms of environmental sustainability and climate adaptation, would like to improve the resiliency of the neighborhood and of the overall city. The pilot action foresees great attention to the extreme temperatures risk because, on the basis of the physic-morphological aspects of Abano’s land, characterised by many impervious surfaces, its territory is subject to urban thermal stress, and the extensive impermeable surfaces are amplifiers of heat island effects.
Furthermore, being Abano a tourist resort for thermal baths, the water drainage system sometimes doesn’t work properly because of the presence of thermal mud deposits within the white drainage network, which can sometimes obstruct the pipes and reduce the useful section of the drainage branches, thus decreasing the capacity of the sewerage system. This generates a problem not only in increasing the risk of flooding but can also reduce the capacity for stormwater drainage. The pilot action will take care also of this critical issue which specifically characterise the area.
Based on the results of the pilot action, the “Urban isolate U9” neighborhood of Abano Terme will improve its resiliency to climate change effects, ensuring safety and liveability to the inhabitants and to the tourists which crowd the area.